Owls Fade in Second Half, Downed by Worcester

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior guard Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) scored a game-high 19 points, but the Owls were outscored by 18 points in the second half to Worcester State, falling 75-69 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from Worcester, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Owls drop to 2-2 in conference play and 9-8 overall. The Lancers secure their first win in MASCAC play this season, improving to 5-11 on the year and 1-2 in the league.

Worcester opened the game by scoring the first six points before the Owls tallied the next 15 points in the quarter, holding the Lancers without a basket for almost seven minutes. Worcester managed to score six points within the final minute of the period as the Owls led 15-12 after one quarter.

In the second quarter, with the Owls trailing by a point, Hadla connected on a jumper and a triple on back-to-back possessions, then Jenn Rennich (Bedford, Mass.) hit a three-pointer to give Westfield a 31-24 advantage. Octaviana Williams (Springfield, Mass.) and Jess Gardner (Webster, Mass.) followed with a pair of layups, then Williams hit a free throw to cap a 13-0 run for Westfield. The Owls finished the first half with a 12-point lead, 40-28.

The Lancers opened the third quarter with a 16-4 run to pull ahead with Nyah Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) giving Worcester their first lead of the second half on a layup. Both teams traded one and two point leads with Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) scoring at the rim with 11 seconds left in the frame to give the Owls a slim two-point lead heading into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter began with three ties and three lead changes with Hadla burying a triple to make it a 62-60 Owls lead with 5:34 remaining in the game. After the Hadla three, the Owls went into a scoring drought as the Lancers held Westfield without a bucket until 1:11 left in the game. In that time span, Worcester scored eight straight points capitalizing on a pair of Owls turnovers and converting those into layups to push the Lancer lead to six, 68-62.

With under a minute left in regulation, Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, Mass.) made free throw, then the Owls forced a turnover which led to a bucket from Hadla to trim the Worcester lead to three with 36 seconds remaining. Westfield was able to make it a one possession game on three separate occasions down the stretch, but strong free throw shooting down the stretch for Worcester proved to be the difference in the contest.

Hadla, Grant, and Williams combined for 48 of the Owls 69 points in the game. Sarah Blomgren (Lunenburg, Mass.) led the Lancers with 18 points while also tacking on six rebounds. Erin Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Thomas and Madison Gutierrez (Holyoke, Mass.) each reached double-figure scoring as well.

After an efficient shooting game in the win over Salem earlier in the week, the Owls fell well short of those shooting percentages in this game, connecting on 31.6% of their field goal attempts and burying just five threes in 20 attempts. Worcester shot slightly better overall from the field at 39.4% while also owning a 61-45 rebound advantage.

Westfield State will stay on the road for their next game, travelling to conference-leading Bridgewater State on Wednesday at 7:30 P.M.